That Hit the (Knight) Spot

Posted on June 21, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Tonight my husband Steven suggested we get some dinner at The Knight Spot in Frankfort, NY.  Since I felt I needed a further excuse than, “Good idea!” I said, “I’ll write a blog post about it!”  Score!

I’ve written about The Knight Spot.  It is a coffee shop, restaurant and ice cream parlor with a comfortable family atmosphere.  We’ve been there on many occasions for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and afternoon ice cream sundaes (guess which one’s my favorite).   When we decided to go tonight for dinner, my first thought was patty melt and chocolate shake.  Yum!

Then I thought that might not be the best choice for my weight-loss goals.  I looked over the whole menu twice and decided a salad was just not going to cut it for me (although I have enjoyed their antipasto on occasion).  I liked the Tuesday special of two Hoffman hot dogs. Steven suggested we get that and split it.  We both decided to get a macaroni salad on the side.  Ignoring my weight loss goals, I also ordered a small Yuengling draft.  Hey, at least I got a small one!  Steven had coffee.

The food was delicious.  I had asked for provolone cheese and onions on my hot dog and added mustard, while Steven had mustard and relish.  The buns were perfectly toasted.  The macaroni salad was so good, it didn’t even need salt.

We were delighted with our dinner, which was also very reasonably priced.  The Knight Spot is located at 264 E. Main St., Frankfort, NY, phone number 315-894-4054.  You can Like them on Facebook.

 

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Getting a Line on Some Beer

Posted on June 20, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I did one traditional Father’s Day thing on Sunday:  I bought my Dad beer.  This gave me the opportunity to go to a new business in Ilion, Route 51 Beer Belly Bob’s Discount Beverage Center.  I think Beer Belly Bob is cool.

One reason I went is, I knew Beer Belly Bob carries Labatt’s Ice, which I know my Dad likes, and I like too.  I know, being Mohawk Valley Girl, as I am, it would have been nice to bring Dad something brewed locally, but I don’t know of anything Dad likes of that nature.  We’ll have to go tasting together sometime and see if we can’t find something.

I found the Labatt’s Ice in the cooler, apparently only available in a 30-pack.  Well, I could help Dad drink it.  I’m helpful that way.  It was a little heavy for me to carry, but this was a Father’s Day present. I persevered.

There was a line at the register. It was not a long one, but seemed so because I was carrying a 30-pack.  I set it on the floor.  Waiting in line also gave me a chance to look at the signs advertising upcoming beer tastings.  They have a very nice tasting room.  Regular readers know I love to taste.   Sam Adams on June 22, Founders Brewing and Ithaca Brewery on June 23, both 5 to 7 p.m.  Yay, I love Sam Adams!  I feel so patriotic when I drink it.

While moving my beer as the line moved, I dropped my car keys and didn’t even notice (and I had NOT had any beer yet!). The lady in line ahead of me nicely picked them up for me.  She asked me if they sold ice.

“I don’t know, ” I said, looking around for a machine.  Then I saw a sign in the window.  It was facing out, but I can read backwards.  “Oh, yes, there’s a sign: ‘We sell ice.'”

As they checked out, I remarked on how much beer the lady and her husband had and said I might follow them home, which is what I often say to people I see carrying beer (full disclosure:  I have never actually followed anybody home).  They said they had some very thirsty people at their house.  When the clerk handed the man the key to the ice machine, he said, “Oh, you’re giving me the keys to the car!”

I said, “Sure, you can take the car, because you haven’t drunk all this beer yet.”

I like to get into conversations with people in check-out lines.  It adds interest to my shopping expeditions.

Beer Belly Bob’s is located at 70 Otsego St., Ilion, NY, phone number 315-895-0936. They are open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.  You can Like them on Facebook, which also lists their beer tastings.  See you there!

 

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Why Can’t I Celebrate Father’s Day Like a Normal Blogger?

Posted on June 19, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Let me preface this post by saying that I have a terrific father.  He is fun, he is funny, he gives great advice and he is always there for me.  However, I wanted to make a kind of a different Father’s Day post, perhaps involving pictures, so I thought I would discuss a couple movies in which fathers play a key role.  Spoiler Alert!  I may give away a few salient plot points along the way, so if you have never seen The Wolf Man or Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte, you may like watch them before reading this.

Last night we watched a movie involving a rather sad father and son story, The Wolf Man with Claude Rains and Lon Chaney Jr., as the father and son, respectively.  Chaney returns home, because his elder brother has died.  There is a nice scene where Chaney and Rains discuss how they don’t talk about their feelings and so are not that close, but that they are going to try to do better in the future.  Then, of course, Chaney gets turned into a werewolf and comes to a bad end, and it is very tragic, in addition to being a scary monster movie.

“Holy crap, I DO look like hell first thing in the morning!”

I can’t find a good shot of Claude Rains, but here is Lon Chaney, Jr., looking stunned and horrified at what he has become.  Bela Lugosi also has a small but pivotal role.

Not as slick as when he played the Count, perhaps, but, still, Bela.

Another movie I watched recently in which the father plays a pivotal role, although not nearly as large a role, is Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte.  In fact, Victor Buono, as Charlotte’s (the incomparable Bette Davis) father, is listed as Guest Star on the DVD cover.  He is an extremely important character, however.  In the opening scene, he orders Charlotte’s married boyfriend to break things off with her.  When the boyfriend is subsequently murdered, the father whisks Charlotte off to Europe, so she is never forced to face charges for a murder she may (or may NOT) have committed.  Dear old Dad is dead for most of the picture, but his shadow looms over the proceedings.  One thing that cannot be denied is that he loved his daughter, and she him.

Clockwise from top left: Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Joseph Cotton, Mary Astor, Victor Buono, and Agnes Moorehead.

And, just for me, here is a shot of Davis, chewing the scenery divinely:

“Don’t you tell me to hush!”

I know, you all thought I was going to talk about Atticus Finch or Spencer Tracy.  I don’t know why you thought that, but never mind.  I will repeat that my own father is an awesome human being, and I wish a Happy Father’s Day to him and all fathers.

 

 

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Sandals with Socks on Slacker Saturday

Posted on June 18, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I am having a real Slacker Saturday and I’m not apologizing for it.  I may not even apologize for this lame blog post, but we’ll see how bad it gets before I guarantee that.  I went for a short run this morning, because after yesterday’s long run I discovered a blister on one foot.  Yikes!  When I was in the army, I found that if I glopped petroleum jelly on the blister and kept it covered, it would quietly fade away (the computer seems to think “glopped” is not a word, can you believe such ignorance?).  I glopped the last of my petroleum jelly on this one last night and have been resorting to antibiotic gel this morning.  Right now I have on ankle socks and sandals.  It’s quite a look.

As a side note, in the above paragraph, I first put vaseline, with a lowercase V, because it wasn’t brand name.  I realize Vaseline is one of those lost brand names, like Xerox and Kleenex, that people use generically (although I personally always say “photocopy” and “tissue”).  I switched to “petroleum jelly” in the interests of accuracy, and to have one fewer word judgmentally underlined in red by my computer.  I strive not to care what others think, yet I find all that red unnerving.

Where was I?  Ah yes, Slacker Saturday.  To give you a real picture of the day, I decided to take a picture of my sandals and socks combo, so I grabbed my Tablet.  As soon as I turned it on, however, I was confronted by a picture of our peonies my husband Steven had taken the other day.  Being even less device-savvy than I am, he asked me to get the picture someplace where he could share it to Facebook.  I realized I had not yet done so (although I am usually a better wife than that) (or do I flatter myself?). I know there is an easy way to do this, but being only slightly less device-un-savvy than Steven, I didn’t know it.

Well, there is no point in sharing with you all my gyrations in that endeavor, but eventually I got around to taking my own picture.

Would you say sexy legs, or are these even scarier than some of the monster pictures I share?

Full disclosure:  I had to move a bunch of junk off the end of the couch, or this picture would have been really cluttered.  Of course that might have made it more interesting as well as being a more accurate depiction of How I Live.  But I decided to try to make it a cleaner picture.  I suppose pictures are like potato chips; nobody wants just one.  I had been meaning to take a picture of some smaller irises in my yard anyways, so I stepped outside to do so.

I see it is an accurate depiction of How Little Time I Spend Weeding.

They are a little past peak, so I zoomed in on the best two.

I think they are graceful and elegant (my original thought was to say, “Aren’t they purty?”).

So this has been my day.  I ran.  I put on socks.  I took a nap (didn’t mention that before, did I?).  I made this blog post.  Oh, before making the blog post, I washed the dishes.  Yay me!  I am not completely useless!  Thank you for tuning in, and I hope to see you all on Wrist to Forehead Sunday.

 

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Feeling Creaky, Not Friday

Posted on June 17, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

How about some Friday Running Commentary?  For one reason, I went running.  For another, I’m just not feeling Friday today.  For a while I even thought I had to work tomorrow, which would have made this a real non-Friday.  Unfortunately, that fell through, so I was left with a Friday that did not feel like a Friday for no good reason.  However, I do not repine.  Instead I went for a long run and now I intend to write about it (yes, yes, I know, Truman Capote said, “That’s not writing, that’s typing,” but I don’t think he was talking about me).

Today was cooler than yesterday and overcast, much better running weather.  I put on sunscreen, though, because I know you can still burn on a cloudy day.  I had a vague idea that I would take a long run.  When I had thought I was working tomorrow, I thought I would make it the run where I upped my time by the recommended ten percent, in case I did not run tomorrow.  Since I do not have to work tomorrow, no doubt I will run.  Still, a long run seemed like a good idea.  Accordingly, I took a bottle of water with me, to sip at while I ran then re-fill from the spring.  That gave me a direction to run in.

To re-cap my recent runs:  Last weekend I ran for an hour and 14 minutes both Saturday and Sunday, hills on Saturday, none on Sunday.  I ran again on Wednesday for 42 minutes with a couple of small hills.  That was a painful run; I felt like I was barely going to make it.  Running more hills than I managed seemed quite out of the question.  So I was not sure how I would feel about running long or running hills today.  But I was going to try.

Well, I did not do as well as I had hoped but neither was it as heinous as I had feared.  I ran a few minor hills.  There were moments where I felt grim and hopeless, when I questioned my choices, and I felt fat, old and creaky.  There were other moments when I believed what I always say to myself, that I can pretty much keep going for as long as I decide to.  I had wild thoughts of upping my run time, as I had thought to do earlier.  Then I had daring thoughts of equaling my longest time so far.  Then I wondered what the hell I was thinking.

I finished my water and made it to the spring.  I decided to do what I did Saturday, that is, run by my house, drop off the full bottle, and finish the run empty-handed.  I still didn’t know how long the run would ultimately be.  A little suspense adds interest to my runs.

By the end of the run, I had changed my mind several times:  “I’ll run here… no, here…  oh wait, there’s that ‘Do Not Enter’ sign, I have to go here!”  I ran up Bellinger Street, across the street from where I live.  I usually run all the way up to German Street then down my side of the street home. Today I was directly opposite my house as my watch ticked the last seconds to the one hour mark.  So I stopped at one hour.  I thought that was pretty good.

I can’t say I felt marvelous as I walked my cool-down, but I felt pleased enough with myself.  I had a glass of chocolate milk after I showered, because I had read recently that this was a good recovery drink.  It was pretty tasty.

Just over three weeks remain till the Boilermaker.  I confess, I am questioning the fitness of my knees.  Then again, what are a few creaks on my way to 15K glory and beer?

 

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When in Distress, Vampires Often Help

Posted on June 16, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

Earlier today, a friend at work gave me some icy-hot (it was Equate brand) to rub on my knees.  It seemed to help.  I have spent most of the rest of the day wishing I had something similar to rub on my attitude.  It’s not even Bad Attituesday!

It is, in fact, one of those days when I disprove one of my own rules: that writing begets more writing.  I just finished and emailed out two articles for Mohawk Valley Living magazine.  Shouldn’t I be all raring to go and write my blog post now?  It turns out, not so much.  I was just futzing around Facebook, looking for pictures, because that always seems to be a good fallback post.  Of course nothing appeals.  Maybe I should look again.

When in doubt, look for monsters.  Here are a couple of pictures from Mark of the Vampire.  I found them on a page I Like called Murder, Madness and the Macabre, Our Favorite Nightmares.

Bela and friend.

I gotta get me a dress with sleeves like that.

I’ve seen Mark of the Vampire a couple of times.  I can’t believe I don’t have it on one of my horror collections.  Maybe my husband will buy it for me for my birthday (he usually reads this blog, teehee).

I’ll throw in another picture of Bela Lugosi to round things out (you know how I like to include three photos).  Here he is from Dracula in 1931.

“I bid you welcome.”

He was fine, yes.  I haven’t seen an old horror movie in a long time.  Perhaps that is the ice-hot for my attitude I seek.  At any rate, it couldn’t hurt.  We’ll call today a Non-Sequitur Thursday post (although the title I have in mind is more of a sequitur) and drive on. Thank you for tuning in, and I hope to see you all on Lame Post Friday.

 

 

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Not Wuss-out, Shout-out!

Posted on June 15, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

So after work today I put in laundry, folded laundry, went running, took a shower, put on a cute outfit, and waited for Steven to get home. When he did, I suggested we go out for dinner.  I suppose it was irresponsible of me, because we are supposed to be watching our pennies, but, well, sometimes you just gotta. We ended up in Jamo’s in Herkimer.

We sat at the bar, which we like to do.  A musician was in the dining room, playing piano and guitar (not both at once) and singing.  He was covering some great mellow ’70’s music by John Denver, Dan Fogelberg and others.  We sang a couple of the songs to each other.  Luckily for our fellow diners, we were not within earshot of anybody.

I ordered a salad called Artichoke Panzanella while Steven got the B. L.T.  His sandwich came with fries, which he graciously shared with me. Yum!  We had an excellent Pinot Grigio with our dinner.

After settling our bill, I wanted to put a tip in the musician’s tip jar. I had to wait till he was in between songs, because there was not one right out, clearly labelled.  That was OK, because I got to chat with him a little.  His name was Lauren Quail, and he is from Frankfort.  He said he was a Valley boy, so I told him I was Mohawk Valley Girl, although I was transplanted here.  We talked about how much we love the area.  He plays at Jamo’s every Wednesday, so that is something for me to remember when I feel like a mid-week night out.

So, you see, instead of Wuss-put Wednesday, I give a shout-out to a local business.  Jamo’s is located at 123 Mohawk St., Herkimer, NY, phone number 315-866-1746.

 

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Not Tired, Tempest!

Posted on June 14, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

You’ve heard of the rule, “When in doubt, eat ice cream.”  At least, if you read my blog post of that title, you have.  The only treats I have in my freezer are fudge bars, so I ate one of those.  I don’t think it’s helping.

I am trying to get my blog post done before leaving for rehearsal for The Tempest with LiFT Theatre Company in Little Falls, NY.  This is the group that did Much Ado About Nothing last summer, in which I memorably played Friar Francis and Second Watch (or do I flatter myself?).  Perhaps you read a few of my blog posts about it.  I only have one part in The Tempest, Gonzalo,  “an honest old counselor of Naples.”  I’m still working on the character, but I am basically a garrulous old man.  The way my body has been feeling lately, I will have no problem with the old part.

I will share more about the play, including performance dates, soon.  I may even bring my Tablet to rehearsal and take some pictures.  Won’t that be fun?  And the nice thing about me taking the pictures is… I don’t have to be in any of them! Ah ha ha ha ha!

Yes, the conclusion to be drawn is that a fudge bar is not a substitute to a dish of ice cream when it comes to making a blog post.  Then again, today is Tired Tuesday.  Also, I do not want to be late for rehearsal.  Happy Tuesday, everyone.

 

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I Didn’t Mean to be Melancholy

Posted on June 13, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

I had meant to make a post about one of my recent Mohawk Valley adventures, but I’m afraid today is going to be more of a Middle-aged Musings Monday, if not Melancholy Monday, or even a Memories Monday.  Oh, all right, I’ll stop alliterating and start blogging.

Today on my Facebook On This Day, I noted that one year ago today we brought our sweet Spunky home from his foster dad’s (I even wrote a blog post about it).  Regular readers may recall that we sadly lost Spunkman (as Steven liked to call him) far too soon (I wrote a blog post about that, too).  I miss having a dog, but the time seems not right to adopt another one yet.

Logging on to WordPress, I noticed a post from a blogger I follow about how she and her guy adopted a puppy, Meet Harper, the Resuce Pup!  Full disclosure:  I do not read all posts by all the bloggers I follow.  This one I read.   Rescue dogs are the best!  And people who adopt them are awesome!  Oh dear, that sounded like I was tooting my own horn, but I was not, really.  For one reason, I have not adopted another dog since losing Spunky.  I don’t know if I ever will, although as I read somewhere, pets happen.

So I am remembering our little Spunky, and our sweet Tabby, who lived with us from 2007 to 2015.  Dogs enrich our lives immeasurably, but so is the sadness immeasurable when we lose them.  I suppose I could say something profound about how you have to have the sad to appreciate the happy, and I even know such a thing to be true.  But I’m afraid it would sound glib and trite, because profundity is not my strong suit.

I also feel I should apologize for intruding sadness into my silly blog, especially when the occasion for sadness is sometime past.  Then again, who can explain emotions and why apologize for them?  I like to say, sometimes you just have to feel that way until you don’t feel that way any more.  I’ll try for a better post tomorrow.

 

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Run then Rationalize

Posted on June 12, 2017 by mohawkvalleygirl

As soon as I started my run today, my legs were not happy with me.  I had been up and had coffee but nothing to eat.  Well, if I would have eaten something, I would have wanted to wait a little while for it to digest, and then it might have been to warm and I’d have had plenty of time to talk myself out of it.  I told myself I did not have to run as long as I ran yesterday.  After all, last weekend I ran 67 minutes Saturday and only 45 Sunday.  I had upped my time by the recommended ten percent to 74 minutes yesterday.  It might be a good idea to ran the same today, but I do not always follow the idea course in my running.

I wasn’t going to run any hills, either.  I had made up my mind to that, although I confess I was not as comfortable with that decision. There are a lot of hills on the Boilermaker (that is the 15K road race in Utica, NY, I am signed up to run on July 9, for anybody just tuning in).  I don’t have to run hills EVERY day, I argued.  A little voice in my head said, “Oh, just start running, you’ll talk yourself into it as you go.” As soon as I started running, my legs informed me that we were NOT going to run any hills and we certainly were not going to run for an hour and fourteen minutes.

Cutting right to the chase, I’ll tell you:  I did not run any hills but I did run for an hour and fourteen minutes.  I crossed State Street and ran on a bunch of streets I don’t usually run on, so it was a very interesting run.  I’ll have to walk it sometime with my Tablet and take pictures to share.  I probably won’t be doing that today, though.  It’s not that my legs would object (they LOVE to walk), but it is supposed to be close to 90 degrees and sunny today.  I’m kind of a vampire.  I admire a sunny day, but it doesn’t pay me to get too close.

As I was running, I was narrating in my head.  It seemed pretty interesting at the time, but now I’m not so sure.  Then again, it is Wrist to Forehead Sunday.   I think this brief description of my run will suffice.  Now you have time to read other blogs.  Isn’t that generous of me?  Yes, yes, I know, that is only a rationalization, but rationalization is not always a bad thing.  To prove this I will end with a quote from the movie The Big Chill:

Jeff Goldblum character:  Don’t knock rationalization, where would we be without it?  I don’t know anybody who can get through the day without two or three juicy rationalizations; they’re more important than sex.

Tom Berenger character: Nothing’s more important than sex.

Jeff Goldblum character:  Oh yeah?  Ever go a week without a rationalization?

If I do not have the lines exactly right, sorry.  I don’t have a rationalization for that, but I hope you will forgive me.

 

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